The New York Post is reporting that Raul Casanova is leaving the team immediately because his father passed away. The Mets can replace him on the roster, and he can leave the team for three to seven days.
Although I don’t think that having a third catcher on the team added a lot of value, he’s done a nice job when he’s played. It seems like he’s made an offensive contribution in every game that he’s started.
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This is the story that’s been going on for five years since the 2003 NLCS. It resurfaced in March when AP columnist Jim Litke quoted Moises Alou as saying that he wouldn’t have caught the ball that Steve Bartman interfered with anyway in Chicago.
Today Alou is saying that he would have caught the ball and didn’t remember telling Litke that he wouldn’t. Apparently, Litke ran into Alou at a store and asked him about it. Alou says that if he did say that, it was in jest to encourage people to forgive Bartman.
The funny thing about it is that the ball was hit by Alou’s current teammate, Luis Castillo then with the Florida Marlins.
I think I’ll have to add a new category to my blog for stories that won’t go away…
Read the full story at ESPN.
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CBS Sportsline is reporting that the Mets re-signed 34 year old outfielder Raul Gonzalez today to a minor league contract. He played for the Mets in 2002-03. He was playing in the Mexican League until being released last month. He’ll go to extended spring training in Port St. Lucie and then Triple-A New Orleans.
Don’t expect to see him with the big club barring disaster in the outfield. He’s a deep insurance policy.
The baseball amateur draft starts this Thursday and the Mets have plenty of needs in their farm system. Obtaining Johan Santana from the Minnesota Twins this off season drained several of the Mets top prospects. That trade included the Mets numbers 2, 3, 4, and 7 prospects. I still like the trade and the contract for Santana. I think he’s got the right stuff and fluid motion to avoid long term injuries enough to be successful over the next seven years.
That said, the Mets need to re-stock young players. Bob Klapisch wrote a good column today on the Mets strategy for this draft. Continue reading “New York Mets Amateur Draft Strategy”
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Fernando Tatis has electrified Mets fans with his offensive ability over his short stint with the Mets, 19 days to be exact. In that time he’s managed two game winning hits in the last four days. His “late and close” hitting has been impressive and New York Mets manager Willie Randolph sure needed it.
Randolph was called on the carpet by the Mets owners less than a week ago for running the highest paid team in the National League into a sub .500 record. I don’t know the exact contents of that conversation or if an ultimatum was given to Randolph. But I’m sure that one was was implied by the Mets owner. Randolph was left needing a player to make a difference quickly. I doubt that he ever thought that player would be Tatis.
Tatis has been in and out of the major leagues for the last five years and spent the entire 2007 season at Triple-A New Orleans. His presence has been felt like a bolt of lightning striking energy into an unispired Mets team over the last three weeks. He came through with a run scoring single off Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Jonathan Broxton yesterday in the eighth inning. And he hit a two run double on Wednesday against the Florida Marlins to secure a 7-6 win in the bottom of the 12th inning. The Mets had fallen behind by one run in the top of the 12th. Continue reading “Fernando Tatis Proving Late And Close Ability”
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The weather report is calling for rain and thunderstorms most of today. The Mets had the tarp out on the field immediately after last night’s game. The contingency plan is for a day/night double header on Sunday. The word is that the Mets would like to call the game early today, if possible.
A day/night double header is exactly what the Mets don’t need before leaving for San Francisco and playing a game Monday night there. Thanks to ESPN for changing the game to Sunday night. And thanks to the MLB scheduling team for planning an LA/New York game on Sunday right before the Mets leave for San Francisco.
Obviously, ESPN is going to take this game for Sunday night. It’s the two biggest TV markets in the country. MLB should’ve done a better job with the schedule. Now the Mets will pay the price.
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